PAfter hearing a contempt petition filed regarding problems faced by farmers in view of farmer suicides in the State, the high court of Uttarakhand issued contempt notices to chief secretary Utpal Kumar Singh and agriculture secretary D Senthil Pandiyan. The bench of acting chief justice Rajiv Sharma and justice Sharad Kumar Sharma directed the two officials to submit their reply by November 14.
Congress leader Ganesh Upadhyay had filed a contempt petition in the high court stating that the state government was consistently ignoring the interests of farmers. The petitioner said that the government is yet to clear the dues of the sugar cane farmers in Udham Singh Nagar district. He further stated that the orders issued by the high court in April 2018 had not been acted upon by the government. Advocate Sandeep Tiwari informed that earlier the court had ordered the state government to form a state farmers commission within three months for the welfare of farmers. Further, the government was also directed to provide minimum support price to the farmers in accordance with recommendations of the MS Swaminathan commission. The high court had also directed that a policy be framed for provision of insurance to farmers for crop damage caused by weather related factors. The state government had also been directed the government to prepare a scheme for providing family pension to the families of farmers who had committed suicide. The case has been set for hearing next on November 14.